On Wednesday, I completed my intentional outline (stage two of three) for Deniable Unit 1.
To give the outline a wee bit of breathing space, I’m now working on the intentional outline for Deniable Unit 2—work started yesterday.
I’m working the same way I did for DU1: fixing plot, protagonists, genre, tone, and theme in turn.
With today’s work complete, I’ve made a total of 7% progress on this outlining stage!
Progress Update
Less than a month ago I put up a little progress bar on my WIPs page for DU1. The bar was empty and looked like it was going to take forever to get to full. But, I promised myself that I’d keep chipping away at the job of pre-editing my outline, that even progress of one percent would get me there.
Well, today, I just filled that little progress bar all the way up!
I’m 100% done with my intentional outline for DU1. The story has transformed from a pretty good one to one that I’m proud of. There’s still another stage of outlining/pre-editing to do before I get to write a pretty clean draft. But, I know that working this way is going to save me a tremendous amount of time and effort in the long run.
For now, I’m going to celebrate hitting this milestone with my wonderful husband who kept me fed and watered while I got lost in my own little world! Thank you, Jez! Woohoo!
Progress Update
Still chugging along on my intentional outline for Deniable Unit 1. I just hit 80%!!! Not long now 😜
Progress Update
Happy to report that I’m now at 72% on my intentional outline for Deniable Unit 1. 🥳 Onward!
Progress Update
I haven’t posted any progress updates for around a week. That doesn’t mean I’ve been slacking off. Nope. I’ve spent the time focussing on genre, making sure that I’m delivering the goods expected in a romantic suspense novel. Man, it was time-consuming but so worth it. The outline is popping now. I’m really starting to love my characters. Until yesterday I had no visual on Adam (hero), but now I can see how he raises his eyebrow in challenge to Elle (heroine)—and understand how it makes her melt.
So, my last update had me at 46%. I’m super happy to share that I’m now at 60% on my intentional outline for Deniable Unit 1. 🥳 Onward!
Super quick update: I’m now 46% closer to having my intentional outline for Deniable Unit 1 complete! #amwriting
It’s been a busy day, so I’ll keep this progress update short. I’m now 36% closer to having my intentional outline for Deniable Unit 1 complete! #amwriting
Progress Update
Quick update on my progress with DU1. I added a whopping 10% to my progress. 😃 I’m now 32% closer to done with my intentional outline. 🎉 #amwriting
Progress Update
Quick update on my progress with DU1. I’m now 22% closer to done with my intentional outline. 🎉🤓
I had a lot of reading to do today. I’m using Solid Story Compass, book two in the iterative outlining series, as my editing/writing guide. So, that’s where the reading came in. After the reading part, I got down to work with my co-protagonists: Elle and Adam. I spent most of the time checking their scene distribution for balance, making sure that I set up the bonding cues for both characters, and finally, I spent a little more time on their character arcs.
Onwards!
Progress Update
Woohoo! I made major progress on my intentional outline for Deniable Unit 1. I’ve just completed my interim intentional outline. Basically, what that means is that I’ve locked down the plot. I’m now at 18% done on this round of pre-editing/writing. 😁
Today was all about double-checking. Or is that triple-checking? I started out making sure that I hadn’t allowed the backstory to take over the plot—and made sure that it hadn’t created a new story goal. Then it was onto analyzing what kind of story Act I promises the reader, and if that follows through the rest of the story. And finally, I made certain that my co-protagonists were actively pursuing the story goal set up in Act I.
All this re-outlining can be daunting/annoying, but the outline I have today is miles better than the one I started with. I’m so glad I didn’t jump into the writing with that one—the editing would have been a nightmare. Roll on tomorrow!